Benwick
by Bineshii
Summary: Sir Lancelot brings Brian along on a visit to Benwick, his childhood home. Lancelot's sister and his mother have different reactions to Brian.


**Notes before this story begins: **

In this third Lancelot and Brian story of mine, I try to explain some of Lancelot's background like his early family life and the origin of his heraldry used on the TV show. Since I found nothing to go on about the heraldry from the TV show, I made up my own background story. If anyone knows more about the creation of the TV show and remarks made by people involved with its production that may contradict what I have said here, please tell me. I may or may not change my own story, possibly considering my version as sort of an alternate universe. Anyway, this is just how I see these marvelous characters behaving from my own childhood love of the show. My stories, though, are written for a more adult audience then I was when I imprinted on the show at the age of eight or for my granddaughter who is now eight and becoming enchanted with the show.

I did a little search for information on training devices for knights and here are some links which explain them. I use these devices in my story.

wiki/Quintain_%28jousting%29#Quintain

/tilting-at-the-rings-ringridning-in-sonderborg/

**Benwick**

A further adventure in the Adventures of Sir Lancelot

By Bineshii

She watched the riders approach from her perch between the branches of her favorite tree. Yes, it was her brother, the spread wings of the bird on the red cloth over his armor plain to see. He was on that white horse that he would not let her ride last time he visited. That was Caledon. And his squire, the new one, it must be, on the brown horse behind him. Blond hair! Yes, and blue eyes. She ducked down because he almost saw her with those sharp blue eyes on one of his many scans of the woods. She had heard he was smart and a quick learner, this one. A shame he was what her mother considered beneath them, socially.

When they had passed, she shinnied down the tree like a monkey and ran to untie her pony. Through her hidden paths in the forest, she would be back at Benwick way before them, even on Strawberry's short legs. The sure-footed pony was getting too small for her but her mother would not let her have a real horse like Caledon.

Caledon's hoofs beat a rhythm on the drawbridge that alerted Matt, the dozing guard. He snapped awake and to attention. Aveline had come galloping in ten minutes ago but she had not stopped to warn him of anyone coming in behind her, little brat! Maybe she had not seen them. But then, why had she come back with her little horse all in a lather?

Matt saw that it was Lancelot coming in and he was expected. Lady Elaine had been on everyone's tail to get things neat and tidy for her son's visit to the home he had grown up in. And Master Michael, head of the guard, had asked Matt to clean his gear to look sharp. While Lancelot was here he would be inspecting the state of readiness of all the castle's defenses and woe to anyone who was not up to the knight's standards for protecting his mother and his sister who was still a bit young to marry and go off somewhere else to live.

Matt let his breath out in a long sigh. Lancelot had passed by him with only a nod of recognition. Everyone who was supposed to be inside the castle today was now here. He unhooked the lock and raised the drawbridge.

Brian took in all the sights around him. It was a modest size place compared to Camelot. Defensible enough looking, and as prosperous as many estates that had large farms and orchards. There were several men on alert and well armed for ordinary guards. The captain of the guards stood at attention and nodded for two boys to hold the horses while he and Lancelot dismounted. The boy holding his horse looked Brian over before leading his horse away. That boy had given him a dismissive look, Brian thought.

"They will take care of the horses, Brian, and also be unpacking them. You will find your bag in your room later."

"Yes, My Lord," Brian responded following Lancelot's light step as he ran up to the main entrance. He must be eager to see his mother, was Brian's assessment.

Just inside the ornately carved door stood a woman in a blue gown who had hair the same shade as Lancelot's. Beside her, but a step behind stood a girl who was about Brian's height. She had slightly darker hair and more prominent cheekbones. Her eyes were almost almond shaped which must be from her father, Brian thought.

"Mother," said Lancelot, taking the woman's hand in both of his and holding it to his lips. Then he leaned over slightly, to sweep the woman into his arms, rocking her gently from side-to-side. When he released her, he turned to the girl and pinched her cheek before giving her a brief hug. "Aveline, just as pretty and probably as naughty as always."

Lancelot turned and grabbed Brian by the forearm, shoving him almost against his mother. "Finally I am bringing my Brian to meet you, Mother. Say Hello to Lady Elaine and my precocious sister, Aveline, Brian!"

Brian dipped his head deeply to Lady Elaine and then to Aveline and shyly said "Ladies, it is my pleasure to meet you at last."

Lady Elaine stiffened slightly and drew herself up to her full height which was barely taller than Brian. "Young man. You are welcome here as my son's loyal servant."

Aveline said "Oh, Mother, I wouldn't feel very welcome with that sort of greeting! Come, Brian!" And Aveline grabbed Brian's hand, pulling him so he almost stumbled further through the doorway.

"Aveline! Such manners!" Lady Elaine said.

"I echo that sentiment for yours, Mother," said Aveline as she tugged on Brian, half dragging him off toward one of the side rooms along the hall with a mild limp to her step.

Lancelot laughed. "I think she likes my squire, Mother. I may have to fight her for repossession of him when I am ready to leave." And raising his voice to address the two young people said "Why don't you two read out loud to each other. I am sure you both could use the practice and there is a good library of scrolls and books in that room you are heading for."

"He reads?" asked Lady Elaine.

"I would not have a squire who didn't," said Lancelot.

Lady Elaine said nothing. She did not have to because her eyes flashed an angry retort and she beckoned Lancelot to follow her into a different room from the one that Aveline had dragged Brian off to.

Lancelot followed meekly, guessing what was coming. Lady Elaine took large steps for a short woman and almost glided across the room to a large chair placed by an imposing fireplace taller than she was. It was unlit on this warm summer day. The sun slanted in from one of the three windows in this room, leaving a trail of light over the wooden floor and reaching half way across a beige rug with a Roman style black border design running all the way around it.

Lady Elaine sat, hands curling around the ends of the arm rests. Lancelot remained standing, even after his mother indicated a facing chair with a flick of her hand.

"You are angry with me." She observed.

"No more than you seem to be with me. I really expected a more gracious greeting for Brian, even knowing you objected to my selection of a squire."

"Your cousin's boy should have had the position."

"Oh, I suppose you led him to expect it without consulting me?"

"Frankly, yes."

"But Mother, the selecting of boys to mentor and train for knighthood is man's business. You should not have interfered. I was on the point of selecting among the pages at Camelot, sons of other Round Table knights, when Brian came into my life. So I would have selected someone other than my cousin's son before I knew you had made this promise, in any case."

"That is beside the point!"

"Then, Mother, I am confused about what the point is."

"Sit."

Lancelot thought it best to now sit. He tried to look relaxed. This conversation might take awhile and it was not looking to be a pleasant visit if he could not placate his mother somehow. He had an idea.

"I know! I could take my cousin's boy to Camelot and enroll him in the squire's school. There are boys there who have not yet been picked up by knights in need of squires. And that is the first place they go to look for potential squires."

"Then you must do so to placate your cousin. But that is still not the point."

Lancelot leaned forward. "If the point, Mother, is that you want me to give up Brian, the answer is no."

Lady Elaine raised her chin. "Your father would again be disappointed in you."

Lancelot closed his eyes. This hurt. The few times his father had been really disappointed in him had been painful. But before his father had died, he had taken Lancelot aside and said how proud he was of the twelve-year-old boy's progress in training at arms. King Ban had said "You may not realize it yet, my boy, but you show promise of being among the best at jousting and at swordsmanship. For one who only a few years ago let a boar chase him up a tree, you have exceeded my expectations."

There had been a twinkle in King Ban's eye when he said it, and pride in the arm that he had thrown over Lancelot's shoulder. This happened about a month before King Ban received the wound that killed him. He had managed to ride home, bleeding out under his armor, falling onto the first step of the stairs Lancelot had so agilely run up today. They had carried him into the room where his son and wife now sat. Making King Ban as comfortable as they could, they then called Lancelot in, leaving the father and son alone for the last half hour of the King's life.

"He would be disappointed, you know," Lady Elaine reemphasized to get Lancelot to respond.

"I am not buying that, Mother. My father would have liked Brian once he saw him on the practice field. And he would have approved of him once he heard about all the missions he has already been on with me where he has shown bravery and resourcefulness in the face of danger."

Seeing that she would not move her son at this time, Lady Elaine changed tactics in order to save the tone of the visit. "For now, I suppose I must accept this. I see you so seldom these days. Let us not quarrel. Go get a bath, both of you. Change for dinner. We will see how your boy behaves at the table of a noble house, won't we? Now go."

Lancelot rose when his mother stood. "I love you dearly, you know. Despite our occasional disagreements."

She shooed him away with her hand. "Son, it is a mother's duty to continue to guide her child, or try to, until her last breath."

He wanted to spit back that he was no longer a child. But saying it, would just prove that he still was.

...

They had tired of reading. Aveline now studied Brian over the chess board. He was a passable player and she was unsure if he was actually letting her win.

"My mother won't let me go to Camelot to be a Queen's maid," she said offhand.

"Oh? Why not?" Brian asked as he tried to study the effect of her last move.

"Because of my limp."

"You limp?"

"You know I do. You must have seen when I pulled you in here."

Brian wasn't sure if this was a frank revelation or just a ruse to distract him in the chess game. In any case, he had to respond somehow. "Is your limp permanent?"

She caught his eye and said "Yes."

"I am sorry about that. Would it be impertinent of me to ask how you got it?"

"No, since I was the one who brought it up. When my father lay dying, right in the room next to this, I was two years old. No one was watching me as all eyes were on the door to the room where father was talking to my brother. I climbed up the stairs to the first level of battlements and tried to walk balancing along the top of the low inside wall. I fell into the courtyard. No one noticed for an hour."

"That was very unfortunate! But with your father wounded, there must have been a conflict on and surely there were people on the battlements watching."

"Of course. They were looking off down the road and along the surrounding woods, not inside where it was supposed to be safe.

"They must have been apologetic and sorry when they found you."

"Oh, yes, but mother was more angry at me than caring. I suppose I can't blame her, she was in a bad state. She loved my father so much."

"Aveline, I have seen enough people dying to know that people behave strangely when grieving. They are in shock, I think. I am sorry that was a hard time for you."

"It is long over now. Just wanted you to know, since I knew we were going to be great friends."

"You did? But you only just met me."

Aveline laughed "Just met you in the flesh, but heard all about you in my brother's letters home. He thinks highly of you, you know."

Brian blushed and made a foolish move on the chess board. Aveline took one of his bishops and sat there with her chin resting on cupped hands, grinning. "You are so cute."

'Cute' was not what Brian wanted to be. But he smiled. "You are saying things just to make me lose concentration and lose the game. Sir Lancelot does that to me too. It must run in the family."

Aveline raised her eyebrows. "I am like my brother? How nice of you to say that. But what games do you play with my brother?"

Brian moved a pawn forward then said "Mostly sword drills. And wrestling. Oh, and riding at the rings. Chess only rarely. He has backed me across the practice field during sword drills, distracting me with stories while he is doing it, until I miss a move. Then I get wacked on the thigh with the flat of his sword while he says "that is for losing your concentration!"

Aveline took her hand off the pawn she was about to move and covered her mouth with both hands to laugh uncontrollably. Then she tried to take some deep breaths with her hand on her side, as if she had a stitch just below her ribs from some great physical effort.

"You are so funny, Brian! I can just see my brother doing that. He can be such a trial sometimes, so intense about injustice and quick to anger at stupidity. I'll bet you are one of the few people that can stand him. No wonder he thinks so highly of you."

"But many people like him, not just stand him."

"Yes, but who does he spend the most time with? Who does he seek out for hunting or sitting next to at plays or just sitting reading silently beside? I know it is you, not other people."

Brian had to think about that one because Lancelot spent a lot of time just being sociable with the King and/or the Queen. He did spend time with the other knights too, but that was mostly in keeping up his skills and theirs. He and Lancelot did spend a lot of time together on many different things.

Aveline was looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"My turn?" he asked.

"Yes. You were off somewhere, in your mind, Brian."

He sighed. "Okay, where did you move?"

"Check."

"Already?" Brian scanned the board. "Oh. Yeah. Let me see... Um...guess I concede."

Just then, Lancelot poked his head around the door. "Dinner, you two."

...

Brian wore his blue tunic with the wide sleeves and high collar. It was the only court dress he had as yet. The long sleeves made him very careful while eating, so he would not drag the sleeves through any sauces or something. He walked in behind Sir Lancelot so did not see the room very well behind the shoulders of the taller man. Lady Elaine indicated he was to sit at the far end of the table. There were some younger children there, the people furthest from herself and her son and daughter. There were other guests in the castle, he came to realize as Lancelot was introduced to Lord Samuel, Lady Marie, Sir William, Lady Anne, Sir Bruce, and Master Michael. Neither he nor the children – about ages five through twelve, were introduced at all.

As each dish was served, Brian concentrated on silently eating without knocking anything over. When the children tried to engage him in conversation, he just smiled or nodded. He listened to the adults closely, perking up whenever Aveline was addressed or spoke.

"I do believe you are nearing an age when you should be thinking about marriage, Aveline," said Lady Anne, who appeared to be a distant elderly cousin of some sort.

"Aveline is my youngest and only child still at home," Lady Elaine intervened before Aveline could answer. "It is early days to even be considering marriage for her and having no close male relative in residence to protect me in my declining years (she looked pointedly at Lancelot); I feel that I should at least have my disabled daughter to tend to me until my days are over. Especially since my oldest daughter rarely visits to allow me to dote on my grandchildren and my son has deserted me for the high king's court."

"Mother!" Aveline scolded. "I am not in the least disabled though I do feel talk of marriage a bit premature."

"Now, Daughter, do not be disagreeable. I am sure Cousin Anne has your best interest at heart as I most certainly do."

Lancelot leaned forward and patted his mother's hand. "You know, Mother, that Aveline does not have a real disability. Not the way she runs through the rooms here, and through fields and forest. And I think that as her closest male relative I should have a say in any marriage for her, years off as it may be."

Lady Elaine raised her chin and dropped the fingers of both her hands on the table in front of her for emphasis. "That would be true if I saw more of you around here tending to what needs to be done on your father's estate."

Lancelot reached for another piece of meat on a platter near him. He placed it on his dish before responding. "You would not tolerate my interference with your running of the place, Mother. Come on, admit it. You ran things quite well when father was around too. Lord Samual and Lady Marie with their adjoining lands are close enough for any emergency and seem to be here or you at their place all the time anyway."

"Not the point, Son."

"Oh dear, not again. I am forever missing the point, am I not, Cousin Anne? Do I ever get the point, Lord Samuel?"

"If either of us ever got the point, Mother would not be able to feel smug and superior over her children," chimed in Aveline.

"Aveline! You will repress your childish willfulness! Do you wish to be sent to your room?"

"Yes, Mother. Please. I have had all I can stomach of food or conversation, I think."

Brian tried to keep a straight face, but the children were laughing into their sleeves and making eyes at each other.

"Master Michael, would you mind escorting Aveline to her room?" asked Lady Elaine sweetly.

"Not at all, My Lady," said Master Michael, who winked at Aveline so Lady Elaine could not see the wink which was very visible to Brian and the children.

Aveline rose and walked toward the door. "Oh, Brian, are you finished eating? Perhaps you could escort me as I am sure my brother has much he would like to discuss with Master Michael as head of the guard."

Michael, who had stood up, looked toward Lady Elaine for confirmation. She nodded curtly with a tight face. "Oh alright. Let us have adult conversation here now. All you children, go now. You may go bother cook for sweets in the kitchen."

There was a grateful scraping back of benches and quick emptying of the children's end of the table as the youngest ones moved past Brian and Aveline in a walk which was just short of a run.

Brian and Aveline followed them out too quickly to hear Lady Elaine's next words: "Well, your boy did not slop any food on that nice tunic which you must have gifted him with. Heaven knows where else he could possibly have gotten such nice clothing."

...

Lancelot took Brain outside after an early breakfast the two of them had in the kitchen. Lancelot knew all the kitchen staff and they were quite fond of him from his boyhood days when he would wander into the kitchen to escape his studies in reading or practice at arms. It reminded Brian of days when Urgan the Strong's daughter used to visit the kitchen where he worked, begging cook for a treat. But she had rarely noticed him, let alone spoken to him.

When they had eaten their fill, Lancelot took Brian out a back entrance to the kitchen and through the kitchen garden to a small drawbridge at the back of the castle that lead to a path to a field overgrown with weeds. Here Brian saw familiar knightly training equipment leaning in disuse and disrepair. Lancelot, hands on hips, looked around, lost in melancholy nostalgia.

"This is where I had my first lessons, Brian. Not in the best of shape anymore, is it? Not like Master Hugh keeps things at the squire's school."

"It certainly does not look like it, Sir Lancelot. It was not that long ago was it?"

"Eleven years now. I only practiced here for a couple of months after my father's death. Master Michael was a bit put off with my mother who took up most of my time trying to have me trained in farming methods and the keeping of Benwick's books. I heard them arguing behind closed doors that my training should be mostly in arms so that the defense of Benwick could be strong. If the lands were overrun by an enemy, what mattered if I knew just how to farm the place? So, I was packed off with Master Michael to the lands of Viviane, the Lady of the Lake. There, Master Michael trained me from dawn to dusk."

"Yes, I did," said Master Michael coming up behind them. "I thought that I would soon find you here reminiscing. And I was right those many years ago then when I saw a spark of what I thought you could become."

"No one else saw that spark, Master Michael," said Lancelot, resting a hand fondly on the old man's shoulder."

"Your father did. Truly. He was just more harsh with you and critical, knowing how much he would depend on you once you became a man," Michael said gruffly.

Lancelot sighed. "Good of you to say so. My relationship with my father was often...uneasy."

Master Michael nodded, then turned to appraise Brian. "So this is the young man you think YOU see a spark of talent in? Hmm, shall we set this rusty equipment back up and see?" teased Master Michael, a sparkle in his eye.

"That is what I had in mind," grinned Lancelot, rocking back on his heels and glancing back at Benwick castle where the horses were kept.

"I already have a stable boy bringing them," grinned Michael.

Brian noticed that Michael was wearing drab field hand's clothes. What was up with this? Didn't it take a knight to train a knight?

Michael tilted his head, noticing Brian looking him over. Guessing the boy's thoughts he said "Like you, boy, I am not of noble blood. I did have a facility for sword and lance which the old king, Lancelot's father, noticed and took advantage of. But unlike his father, Lancelot here, seems willing to discard tradition and raise you to a level I was never allowed to achieve."

"And that is a tribute to you, my friend. I owe it to you to do so," Lancelot said respectfully. "I want you to see in your lifetime, what can and should be allowed."

"Why don't you make Master Michael himself a knight?" asked Brian. "Wouldn't that honor him more directly?"

Michael shook his head sadly. "By the time Lancelot was old enough to do so, I was too old for it. Lady Elaine, while adhering to the old ways, does honor me with a comfortable pension and an honorable place at her table. I have a good life. I am valued. And besides, Lady Elaine likes me for an appreciative audience when she reads aloud on cold winter evenings, not to mention the fact that I keep a sharp eye on the castle's defenses."

"Oh," said Brian. "That is more than I would have ever hoped for at the castle of Urgan the Strong."

"You are well out of there, Brian," said Lancelot, slapping Brian on the back. "Ah, here come the horses."

Michael strode over to the equipment and began setting it up.

Soon Brian found himself on his brown gelding galloping toward a ring hanging on a rope between two trees. He managed to get the short practice spear through the ring half the times he rode at it. Trotting back while the stable boy retrieved a pile of the practice spears where they had fallen beneath the ring, Brian hoped the conversation going on between Lancelot and Michael was favorable to him. He felt protective of Master Hugh's reputation as a trainer at the squire's school.

"Not bad, my boy," said Michael. "I can see they do school you boys well at Camelot. But...Lancelot never missed a ring after only two weeks training and at age twelve."

"I'm fourteen," said Brian dejectedly.

Lancelot crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Brian, you have to take your turn among twenty boys under Master Hugh's care. I had Master Michael all to myself. On a good day at the squire's school you get to ride at the rings, what, maybe ten times a day? I was not let off the field here unless I rode at them at least fifty times. And a page would hold two horses in reserve for me when the first horse became tired."

Lancelot looked with fondness at Michael before saying with a teasing inflection in his voice: "The horses were treated well. I was worked to exhaustion."

Brian smiled at that. Horses were treated well because unlike the men, the horses did not choose their participation in the games of men. Brian was fond of his horse, the first gift he ever had from Lancelot. He rubbed the horse's nose and the horse nudged him in the chest to demand more rubbing.

Michael turned to Lancelot and said one word "adequate," then turned to head back toward the castle for midday meal, beckoning to the stable boy to follow with the horses. He turned back for a second to say "Tomorrow the quintian. We will see how sore Brian will get when he makes glancing blows and gets hit on the back with the sandbag. Getting hit every other time should make the boy too sore to sit back in his chair at evening meal."

"Don't worry Brian. I spent many evening meals leaning my elbows on the table," Lancelot said, reaching to muss Brian's hair.

"I'll bet your mother was not very sympathetic. She gives the children at her table the eye of disapproval when their elbows appear."

Lancelot laughed. "And so she did with me. I was expected to have good manners no matter how I was feeling."

"Well that is one thing I COULD get away with at the table in the kitchen," muttered Brian.

"My boy, the disadvantages AND advantages of the kitchen are long behind you," said Lancelot, draping an arm over Brian's shoulders and steering him toward their midday meal.

...

By the end of the first week at Benwick, Brian's progress in the practice field had improved much faster than the progress he had been making at the squire's school. Sometimes Lancelot had to have talks with his mother so that Brian was alone with Michael at the field. Though his progress seemed acceptable to Michael, Brian felt deep in his heart that no matter how good he got – and he realized that next to the other boys in the squire's school that he was quite good, he did not have the same talent as Lancelot. But he was coming to know that was just fine. Lancelot demanded high competence from him but not absolute perfection even though he was told that is what he should always strive for. He was 'valuable' as Lancelot had told Urgan the Strong. And one day, he would confidently take his place beside Lancelot on any battle field.

"I envy you, Brian. You will someday take your place at the Round Table," Michael said softly as they sat on a log, taking a short break.

"You think so?" Brian was excited to think Michael thought this well of him.

"With Lancelot as a mentor, I am sure it will be so."

Brian mumbled a grateful thank you and tried to change the subject to something he had always wondered about but as yet had not asked Lancelot.

"Master Michael, how did Sir Lancelot choose his heraldic symbol, the bird with the spread wings which is so dramatic?"

Michael took a long pull on the water skin and passed it to Brian before he answered.

"Do you know the meaning of Aveline's name?"

"No, what has that got to do with Lancelot's symbol?" asked Brain leaning back to squeeze a trickle of water down his throat.

"Ave is bird in Latin. Aveline means little bird. Have you noticed Aveline's talent at drawing?"

"Oh yes," said Brian animatedly. "She practices drawing on slates, then when she has a good idea, draws it on a valuable parchment. She showed me one of Lancelot as a young boy and one of her father from hazy memory and descriptions from her mother and brother."

"Yes. Well, when Lancelot and I came back from the Lady of the Lake when Lancelot turned sixteen, Aveline was already a little artist at age six. She was glad to have her big brother back. And she told him 'if I am Little Bird, you must be Big Bird.' She showed him a drawing of a sparrow she had made. Lancelot was so impressed that he asked her to draw a big bird to match her little bird. She did. And that is the bird which is now on all Lancelot's clothing. That is the one drawing that Lady Elaine likes best that Aveline did. Lady Elaine then appliquéd the symbol on all Lancelot's tunics."

"So Sir Lancelot and his sister are close."

"Very. He has always been protective of her. He sends her letters like he does to his mother." And with a twinkle in his eye Michael said, "despite her being a girl and having a slight limp, Aveline is as brave and adventurous as her brother. I believe she thinks Lancelot has given you to her. Must have been something in those letters that has her thinking so. Watch out, boy, the women of King Ban's clan are very possessive."

"I will consider myself warned," laughed Brian. "I have never gotten along so well with a girl as I do with Aveline."

"Okay, back to work now, boy, before those sore muscles from that quintain sandbag that keeps hitting you, start to stiffen up. And good work hiding it at the dinner table. Lady Elaine knows what's up and keeps checking the position of your elbows."

"She hasn't caught me with them on the table yet," smirked Brian.

"I know. She is impressed with your behavior. It was she that put those soft pillows in your room to ease your sore back at night."

"It was? I thought it was Aveline. Well," said Brian as he stood up with a wince, "they do help me sleep better."

...

The days passed too quickly for Aveline and soon two weeks had gone by. Whenever Michael gave Brian time off, she and Brian hunted small game with bows, then rode together on his horse because she was embarrassed by her small pony. They continued to read together by hiding out in some quiet corner on the battlements. The day before Lancelot and Brian were to return to Camelot, the two young people took a final walk in the woods together.

Aveline lay on her stomach on the grass trailing her hand in the water of the slow moving stream. "Want to go swimming?"

"We would have to take most of our clothes off. I don't think we should do that," Brian said timidly.

She rested her head on one hand, propping her elbow on the grass and stared grinning at him in a very disconcerting way that actually awakened feelings in Brian that he did not want to admit to yet.

"Come, Brian, I am not trying to seduce you. Not quite yet, anyway."

Brian rolled off his stomach and onto his back, placing his hands under his head and stared up into the tree branches above them, overhanging the stream. "Your brother would kill me at even the slightest hint of impropriety between us."

"No, my mother would kill you. My brother has been encouraging our friendship."

"With the accent on FRIENDSHIP." Brian said pointedly.

"True. For now. But I think he is thinking years ahead."

"You do?" Brian rolled over facing her, his head on his own hand and studied her face. Such a nice face. Almost too much like her brother's for comfort. But those eyes were all her own.

"Okay, no swim." She pouted. "How about a kiss instead?"

"Um, um, what?" he stuttered. My god, she could flirt as well as her brother! Brian had just started to be interested in studying how Lancelot flirted with women. These new feelings his body was giving him - interesting but a bit embarrassing.

Aveline touched the tip of his nose with a finger. "You are even cuter when you are blushing. You have such blond eyelashes. I love when you close and then open your eyes and move your eyelashes. And I have never seen eyes so blue. Is your hair blond all over your body?"

Brian's eyes went wide with surprise. "Aveline, thanks for showing me your favorite place in the woods and all that, but I really think we should be getting back now," said a very embarrassed Brian, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

Aveline pulled him down again and rolled over on top of him. Pinning both his arms, she pressed her lips to his and held them there. Brian tried to breathe through his nose. My god, he was overwhelmed by this but actually did not want to stop. He raised his arms to wrap them awkwardly around her and she slipped her hands up his arms and around his neck. He tried to shift his hips away from hers, though. His body was betraying him there.

She pulled her head back, then smiled and lowered it again pressing her lips against his even harder. He responded. Oh, how he responded. Then he moved his arms to shift her sideways, breaking their kiss but snuggling his face against her neck. He traced his finger around the edge of her ear.

"Oh, I like that, Brian. Now kiss my ear.'

He gave her a quick peck on the ear. Then he rolled them over so she was on her back on the grass, and raised his chest off her on stiff arms.

"I feel, Aveline, I feel that we...are on the verge of doing something that I didn't think I was capable of yet. But my body is telling me that I am capable, Aveline, and I am scared of this. I could want this very badly. I mean, I think I do want this. But no. Please, not yet."

Aveline searched his face. What a dear, sweet boy. Honest and so, so desirable. She felt her female power. She felt she could make him do this if she really wanted to. But what then? What would the consequences be? No, not yet. Like he was saying...not yet. She reached a hand up and mussed his hair.

That broke the spell for Brian. He sat back and turned away. "I hate when your brother does that!"

"What? He kisses you?"

"Heck no! Yuck! He musses my hair. I am not a child to have my hair mussed anymore." Then realizing he had a way to shift the conversation away from a budding romance, said "You tell him that! Really. If he hears it from someone else besides me, maybe he would stop doing it. Heck, I will ask your mother to tell him that!"

Aveline burst out laughing. "You really wouldn't ask my mother to tell him to stop mussing your hair, would you? She would just love to have something of an argument going between my brother and you. She is jealous of how good friends you are."

Brian pulled up a grass stem and sucked on the soft juicy part of it. "She is? Well I really don't mind his mussing my hair THAT much, I guess. But I am not a child anymore either."

"I'll say you're not!"

Brian looked at her then. "Aveline, I feel that one day...and I'd really like it if we...but I'm not ready."

"Okay, Brian, I'm sorry I kissed you."

"I'm not sorry." He grinned mischievously at her.

"Then I am not really sorry either. And I don't care that you are not a rich man with lots of land and a castle. Let's just not choose anyone else someday unless we check with each other that we no longer want each other. Okay?"

"You mean that? Aveline, I could, I could really fall in love with you someday."

She got up and standing by the side of the stream, fished in a pocket of her skirt. "Here. A handkerchief with the first initial of my name stitched into it. It is not too evenly done stitching, one of the first ones I did. But I want you to have it. Keep it as a pledge to not choose another girl unless I release you."

He smiled and took it. "Then am I your champion like your brother is for the Queen?"

"Yes, exactly that, Brian."

"Alright then. But I can't put it on my lance. I don't have my own set of lances yet. I am at least a year away from any tournaments, even the small ones."

"Keep it in your pocket. Or your saddlebag."

"I promise to."

He took her hand and kissed it. Then they held hands as they walked back to the edge of the woods closest to the drawbridge before dropping hands and going inside.

...

"Well how do you like my family?" Asked Lancelot a mile out on their journey back to Camelot as he and Brian paused to look back from a ridge at Benwick.

"I see where you get your looks and personality from, My Lord. I like your mother even if she doesn't much like me."

"Oh, she likes you. She struggles not to like you because of your humble origin. She will come around. Now, Aveline likes you a lot. What do you think of Aveline, Brian?"

Brian blushed and Lancelot noticed it as Brian said "She is the most beautiful lady ever, except for your mother and the Queen. She and I are becoming very good friends. Can I write to her?"

Lancelot looked at Brian for longer than Brian was comfortable with. Brian wondered what Lancelot was thinking. Maybe Aveline was right, he had plans. But in any case, he was not telling Lancelot about the handkerchief. Brian knew Lancelot had secrets from him, so he thought it was alright to have one secret from Lancelot.

"That will make you improve your writing, I think. Good. I am pleased to hear that," Lancelot said and nodded his head as if this was an idea he had not thought of before. Things were coming along nicely with his secret long range plans. Brian seemed to be as gentle with Lancelot's little bird sister as he had been holding Merlin's pigeons.

"Now, let's see how far we can ride today," Lancelot said, turning Caledon and riding down the side of the hill away from Benwick.

18


End file.
